The competition is fierce, but The Watchdog nominates 1and2 Automotive of northwest Dallas as one of the worst used car dealers in town.

1and2 earns the nomination because it has perfected a few car-selling techniques that frustrate law enforcement, anger customers and even motivated the Better Business Bureau to send in undercover staffers.

Technique #1. 1and2 employees stash your cash down payment in an office safe the way a squirrel hustles nuts. No matter what, you'll never see it again.

Technique #2. 1and2 uses a hidden GPS device to find your car and repossess it for the slightest reason, in violation, sometimes, of its own sales contract. That cash down payment of yours? Sorry, Charlie.

Technique #3. If you argue, they put you in a room and lock the door, at least one customer says. No kidding.

All of this happened to Dalwan Washington, a 40-year-old single mother of four, looking for a car to get to her job at a pharmacy. The Dallas woman found a car she liked online and called the dealer to check if the car was available.

Of course, come on down, they told her.

But when she arrived at 1and2, at the corner of Reeder and Joe Field roads, she says they told her the car was sold 20 minutes before.

But they had another one, a 10-year-old Infiniti. Twice as much. She expected the car to cost $8,900, including her $2,000 down payment. But when she saw the finance sheet, it showed, with 24 percent interest, a total price of $28,000.

She balked and said she changed her mind.

"I asked for my money," she says.

"The salesman cursed me and threatened to put me out without the car or my money. Feeling helpless, I figured my only option was to sign the papers to get the car if I couldn't get my money back."

She drove away, expecting to make $550 monthly payments. That's what they agreed upon. She didn't realize she had to make twice-a-month payments of $275.

A 1and2 salesman told The Watchdog she missed a payment.

Washington had the car only three weeks. No one notified her about any payment due. No grace period here.

The car was repossessed. When she went to complain and get her money back, she says she was locked in that room and berated.

She has no car, lost her $2,000 down payment and doesn't know what to do.

1and2 Automotive of Dallas sells cars and then tows them in as part of rapid-fire repossessions. Many people have complained.

Lots of complaints about 1and2 Automotive

Police in the past arrested one employee for theft (shown on a YouTube video). We found a court case where similar complaints against the dealership are alleged. The Texas attorney general's office says 29 complaints are on file against 1and2 for the past five years.

Complaints similar to Washington's from recent months show up on DealerRater.com.

Watchdog visits 1and2 Automotive

My colleague Marina Trahan Martinez and I visited 1and2 this week. The company is owned by David A. Kost, records show.

When we entered a man named David sat in a central office, but when told by an employee why we were there, he left and didn't come back. We were asked to leave the property.

Another employee, Bob Shoemaker, said we could set an interview appointment the next day. 1and2 ignored The Watchdog's follow-up calls.

While exiting, a salesman named D.J., whom Washington said sold her the car, gave my colleague a brief interview. He introduced himself as "Justin."

"Push comes to shove," the man said, "she was repoed because she didn't make her payment and was three weeks late."

He added: "We tried to resolve it with her. She didn't like the resolution."

Recent court case against 1and2

Last year, customer Tashia Seagraves filed a lawsuit against 1and2 in Dallas County. She charged she was allowed to test drive the car only to the end of the block, and when she asked why the diagnostic light was on, she was lied to. After she bought the car, it wouldn't shift into reverse.

Owner Kost told her there was nothing he could do, she said in court papers. She returned the car and lost her $3,500 down payment. The case was settled.

Is BBB monitoring working?

Dalwan Washington has now studied her contract carefully.

The last line states, "If you take my vehicle, you will tell me how much I have to pay to get it back."

That didn't happen. Like that squirrel hoarding nuts, no refund. Her car was towed after only three weeks in her possession over $275. That's a travesty.

Her lack of a refund is a violation of the BBB agreement in which 1and2 promised the BBB, "Whenever there is a customer that is requesting a refund, a manager will then fill out a check request form. ... BBB will monitor 1and2 Automotive's complaints ... to determine if their efforts have sufficiently addressed the underlying cause of this pattern of complaints."

Monitor away.

Washington says: "I usually do my homework on companies I do business with. But I dropped the ball on this one."

Don't feel too guilty. You and many other online reviewers got worked, too.

Staff writer Marina Trahan Martinez contributed to this report.

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